A Silver Spring man pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter by motor vehicle in connection with a March 2023 collision in Rockville that resulted in the deaths of two Montgomery County teens, the county state’s attorney’s office said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Jean-Pierre Velasco, 21, entered a plea agreement in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville Tuesday and faces a maximum of eight years in prison, the statement said. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 7.
Velasco’s attorney did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s request for comment Thursday morning.
In July, Velasco was indicted July 26 by a grand jury on two counts of negligent manslaughter by vehicle, two counts of homicide by vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and two counts of homicide by vehicle while under the influence of alcohol per se, county police said in an August news release.
According to Wednesday evening’s statement, Velasco was driving a black 2012 Infiniti G47 with four passengers from Sterling, Virginia, to a friend’s home in Wheaton when the single-vehicle collision occurred early on the morning of March 4, 2023. According to police, officers and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews responded at about 4 a.m. to a report of a collision involving the Infiniti G47 at Montrose Road and Hitching Post Lane.
“[Velasco] lost control on the wet roadway following rain, struck the curb of the center median, continued back into the roadway, struck the right curb, continued across the grass and sidewalk striking several fixed objects and then struck a metal light support pole, which is where the vehicle came to rest,” the state’s attorney’s office said.
One of four occupants in the car, Kristin Ventura, 19, of Germantown, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities. A second passenger, Kailey Briana Vigil, 19, of Rockville was transported to a local hospital where she later died due to injuries sustained in the crash.
A third passenger left the scene before officers arrived and the driver, later determined to be Velasco, was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries, police said in a March 2023 statement. Police did not provide information on the fourth passenger.
According to the state’s attorney’s office, Velasco, who was 19 at the time of the crash, consented to a blood sample that later showed a level of 0.10 blood alcohol concentration (BAC). In Maryland, the legal BAC limit is 0.08 for drivers 21 and older.
Following an investigation by the county police department’s Collision Reconstruction Unit, investigators determined that Infiniti G47 was traveling between 57 and 73 mph at the time of the crash, the state’s attorney’s office said. The speed limit on the stretch of roadway where the crash occurred is 40 mph.
After Velasco was indicted in July, he was released on an unsecured personal bond of $2,500, according to digital court records.